Recap for Double Blind – Series 2 and 3

We are now over half way through Series 2 and 3, a double blind. About 60 dogs have run, with about 20 completing on Day 1 in the late afternoon and twice that many by now on Day 2, running under morning conditions. Although the lighting conditions have been very different on Day 1 and Day 2 - as is to be expected - the dogs running at either time seem to be able to see casts well and, thankfully, hear all their whistles as quite a few can be needed. The land blind typically calls for 4 - 5 whistles and the water blind 10 - 12 to complete.

This pair of blinds - which share a diversion sluice and present several factors on each blind - pose plenty of challenge but the work overall shows that dogs and handlers who compete at the elevated level of a National Open can usually make reasonably smooth jobs of these blinds and in some cases fabulous jobs.

The water blind presents the larger set of challenges of this double blind pair. A long land entry into the water has caused some teams to need several whistles just to arrive at the water where needed. The dogs are for the most part compliant but can lose their "picture" after several redirects. Once in the water more navigation is needed to connect correctly with the point of dead tules. This clump of tules presents a visibility challenge and has the dangerous attraction of the sluice tucked away just behind it. Several casts can be required to get the dog safely past the sluice and on to the far shore. The end of the blind can cause more than a few problems with the combination of a berm at an angle and a downed log, also lying at an angle, operating to push the dog offline to the left where he can blow past the bird. If he does miss the bird at this point he is at risk of going over the edge out of sight and entering the dry pond area which was the scene of hunts for the memory bird of Series 1.